When Your Brain Gets Stuck: a really helpful resource
Intrusive thoughts can be feel scary for children and particularly for neurodivergent young people. One resource I have found really helpful to support exploring worries is the book When Your Brain Gets Stuck by Dawn Huebner. Dawn is a US-based Clinical Psychologist, who specialises in helping children manage anxiety and related challenges, translating evidence based psychological techniques, especially from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, into simple strategies children can understand and use.
When Your Brain Gets Stuck is a thoughtful, child-friendly book designed to help kids understand and manage obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours. The book title specifically mentions OCD, which can be off-putting if your child doesn’t have a formal diagnosis. However, the book offers lots of useful tools to support with anxiety more generally, as well as emerging obsessive thoughts, including metaphors and imagery that can help demystify intrusive thoughts and support your child with strategies to organise and manage thoughts and behaviours that feel scary.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) often co-occur, with studies indicating that up to 37% of individuals with ASD also experience OCD symptoms. It makes sense then, that lots of neurodivergent young people will struggle with obsessive thoughts to some extent, possibly without meeting the threshold for a formal diagnosis.
One of the book’s biggest strengths is how it externalizes the problem. Instead of telling children “something is wrong with you,” Huebner frames OCD as a “brain glitch” or a “stuck signal.” This helps reduce shame and empowers children to see themselves as capable of fighting back. The book introduces practical strategies based on cognitive-behavioral techniques, particularly exposure and response prevention (ERP), in a gentle, approachable way. The use of relatable examples and simple metaphors makes it especially effective for younger readers (roughly ages 6–13 years).
Huebner strikes a careful balance between being reassuring and honest. She doesn’t minimise how difficult intrusive thoughts and compulsions can be, but she consistently reinforces that improvement is possible. The writing is clear without being condescending, which makes it suitable for both children and parents reading alongside them.
When Your Brain Gets Stuck isn’t a substitute for professional treatment in moderate to severe cases of OCD, and some children may also need help from an adult and/or professional to fully apply the techniques described. However, if you are concerned that your child might be struggling with intrusive thoughts, and compulsions, and you are looking for a starting point to help support them (and you!) to understand and break down this difficult topic, this could be a useful book to explore together.
Issy Martin
Neurodivergence Advocacy & Support Specialist